Festivals voted #1 UK attraction - Edinburgh Festival Guide

THE ESSENTIAL FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE

The Edinburgh Festivals have been voted the number one tourist experience in the UK according to readers of the Rough Guide, topping the list of 25 tourist experiences in the UK and Ireland including surfing in Newquay, experiencing the Glastonbury Festival and hiking in Snowdonia.

The decision appears in the British edition of a series of International Rough Guides published today. The pocket-sized, magazine-style series of 25 guides has been produced to mark the 25th anniversary of Rough Guide.

Mark Ellingham, series editor and Rough Guides founder, said: “When we think of holidays, a lot of people immediately associate this with going abroad. But, believe it or not, you don’t actually have to jump on a plane to have an amazing time.”

The Rough Guide said the Edinburgh Festival’s appeal lay in the range and volume of events and shows on offer to visitors of the city. From “risqué cabaret going on at one of the Fringe venues” to “shuffling up the Royal Mile to the nightly Military Tattoo.”

And whilst the guide claims you’ll need “the stamina of an ox, the appetite of a hippo and the nocturnal characteristics of an owl” it describes Edinburgh’s appeal as: ”Over half-a-dozen separate festivals taking place simultaneously, some 1500 different shows a day, across 200 different venues. Not to mention the street acts, the buskers, the bizarrely dressed leafleters and the simple fascination to be had just watching it all swirl around you.”

THE LIST
1. The Edinburgh Festival
2. Go West - walking the Pembrokeshire Coast Path
3. Punting on the Cam
4. Supping Guinness in Dublin
5. Wandering Borrowdale in the Lake District
6. Be humbled by Durham Cathedral
7. Cycling in the New Forest
8. See the Belfast Murals
9. Surfing in Newquay
10. Breathing in the sea air in Tobermory
11. Hiking in Snowdonia
12. Hunting ghosts in York
13. Hitting the streets for Notting Hill Carnival
14. Getting away from it all on Skellig Michael
15. Get lost in the Balti Triangle
16. Clubbing in London
17. Walking on Dartmoor
18. Trundling along the West Highlands Railway
19. Winning the prehistoric lottery (Newgrange Lottery, Co Meath)
20. Watching a football match at Old Trafford
21. Losing yourself in Connemara
22. Take a stroll from St Paul's to Tate Modern
23. Holkham magic: visiting the best beach in Britain
24. Walking the walls of Conwy Castle
25. Experience Glastonbury